Oregon (coast): Pacific waves and sea lions

Oregon (coast): Pacific waves and sea lionsBattered by the unrelenting waves of the Pacific, the Oregon coast is a dramatic meeting of rock and tide. If you like precipitous cliffs and dramatic sea stacks, this is is the place to be. And it offers great opportunities for watching sea life as well, like seals sunbathing on secluded beaches or sea lions fighting for a place on a harbor pontoon. Adding to the natural drama are a coastal rain forest and some of the largest oceanfront dunes in the world.

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’Cape Kiwanda.’
The sandstone escarpment of Cape Kiwanda, just north of Pacific City, is a good place to experience spectacular wave action if seas are rough. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Cape Kiwanda.’
The sandstone escarpment of Cape Kiwanda, just north of Pacific City, is a good place to experience spectacular wave action if seas are rough. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Cape Kiwanda.’
The sandstone escarpment of Cape Kiwanda, just north of Pacific City, is a good place to experience spectacular wave action if seas are rough. The mushroom shaped rock is a product of wind erosion. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Cape Kiwanda.’
The sandstone escarpment of Cape Kiwanda, just north of Pacific City, is a good place to experience spectacular wave action if seas are rough. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Siesta time in Newport.’
It's busy at this pontoon in the harbor of Newport at the Oregon coast. Is it siesta time? Or are all those California sea lions having a sun tan? With their playful behavior and dog-like barks they are an attraction for visitors of the Bayfront area. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Sea lions in Newport.’
California sea lions occupy a pontoon in the harbor of Newport. Their dog-like barks and playful behavior are an attraction for visitors of the Bayfront area. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Sea lions in Newport.’
California sea lions occupy a pontoon in the harbor of Newport. Their dog-like barks and playful behavior are an attraction for visitors of the Bayfront area. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Sea lions in Newport.’
California sea lions occupy a pontoon in the harbor of Newport. Their dog-like barks and playful behavior are an attraction for visitors of the Bayfront area. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Sea lion in Newport.’
California sea lion on a pontoon in the harbor of Newport. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Coast near Cape Perpetua.’
The Pacific seems to be emptying itself into this hole located on the rocky coast near Cape Perpetua, south of Yachats. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Seals at Strawberry Hill.’
The small promontory of Strawberry Hill, 6 km south of Yachats, is a good stake-out for observing seals. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Sea-anemones at Strawberry Hill.’
Sea-anemones in a tidepool at Strawberry Hill, small promontory on the Pacific coast 6 km south of Yachats. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Cape Kiwanda.’
The sandstone escarpment of Cape Kiwanda, just north of Pacific City, is a good place to experience spectacular wave action if seas are rough. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Cape Kiwanda.’
The sandstone escarpment of Cape Kiwanda, just north of Pacific City, is a good place to experience spectacular wave action if seas are rough. The mushroom shaped rock is a product of wind erosion. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Cape Kiwanda.’
The sandstone escarpment of Cape Kiwanda, just north of Pacific City, is a good place to experience spectacular wave action if seas are rough. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Cape Kiwanda.’
The sandstone escarpment of Cape Kiwanda, just north of Pacific City, is a good place to experience spectacular wave action if seas are rough. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Devil's Punchbowl.’
Devil's Punchbowl, 15 km north of Newport, is a cauldron-like sandstone formation that has been sculpted by centuries of tidewater flooding what had been a cave until the roof collapsed. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Sea lions in Newport.’
California sea lions occupy a pontoon in the harbor of Newport. Their dog-like barks and playful behavior are an attraction for visitors of the Bayfront area. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Sea lions in Newport.’
"Get away from here, these are my girlfriends."
"I'm not moving one inch! She just told me she has a crush on me."
California sea lions have siesta on a pontoon in the harbor of Newport at the Oregon coast. With their playful behavior and dog-like barks they are an attraction for visitors of the Bayfront area. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Sea lions in Newport.’
California sea lions occupy a pontoon in the harbor of Newport. Their dog-like barks and playful behavior are an attraction for visitors of the Bayfront area. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Sea lion in Newport.’
California sea lion on a pontoon in the harbor of Newport. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Gathering clams.’
A family is gathering clams on the black volcanic shore at Devil's Churn, a narrow inlet near Cape Perpetua, south of Yachats. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Seal watching at Strawberry Hill.’
The small promontory of Strawberry Hill, 6 km south of Yachats, is a good stake-out for observing seals. It also offers a good view of the rainforest covering the coastal cliffs. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Seal at Strawberry Hill.’
The small promontory of Strawberry Hill, 6 km south of Yachats, is a good stake-out for observing seals. Photo Mick Palarczyk.

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’Rainforest north of Florence.’
The giant trunks of old-growth Sitka spruce, that can reach three meters in diameter and 100 m in height, tower above a hiker in the coastal temperate rainforest of the Rock Creek Wilderness, 20 km north of Florence. This nature reserve is part of the Siuslaw National Forest. Photo Mick Palarczyk.